6 Questions w/ Ryan O'Connor of Ineffable Slime

Ryan O'Connor (known as Ineffable Slime) is an artist known for his brutal and unrelenting, sample based harsh noise. Known by many for his releases on Virtues, Tribe Tapes, and Fusty Cunt Records, he has found a loyal following of underground noise aficionados and collectors.

I spoke with Ryan about hidden meanings, the occult, and his bookstore 'Alarum Books'.

Many noise artists start projects with an idea of having an unspoken context through their noise. For some people, their noise is made with political or social protest in mind, and famously Vomir had his dada-esque "Manifeste du Mur Bruitiste".

Thinking of those earlier days as a noise artist, was there any idea of having a meaning or perhaps a statement that you wanted your noise to convey or was it simply just your chosen form of auditory abstraction

Ryan - I consider my approach towards noise to be rooted in a tradition of American amateur visionary art. When I am recording or performing, I am relinquishing some amount of control to something outside of myself and view my role as intermediary to convey and document this collaboration. That is my approach, and that’s the lineage I have the most affinity to.

 Thus, I wouldn’t say there is an explicit statement, political, social, or other conveyed by my work, instead, I find the most apt metaphor to be the title of a Bosch oil painting, depicting a surgeon trepanning a patient, “Extracting the Stone of Madness”. 

On the track "Protophobia" off of your 2020 release "Tiamat as Operating System", you sample the noise legend and pioneer of noise music, Joe Colley of "Crawl Unit". Along with that, you also liberally use other samples throughout your discography.

What has your musical relationship with sampling been like, and what draws you towards sampling as a basis for your noise music?

Ryan - Sampling is intrinsic to the music I make. Partially, it’s because I have a sculptural approach to composition. I stack sounds on sounds, then chip away at them, until I find a result I am happy with. I maintain a willful ignorance of all musicality (I can’t play a single instrument) and so If I hear something I want to use, I’m going to use it. John Oswald’s concept of plunderphonics is a guiding principle for me.

Additionally, I like to share knowledge, it’s why I have a bookstore. When I use a sample, I’m trying to use something that came into my life incidentally; something people likely haven’t heard before, or of which the recording that I am listening to may be the only recording of these sounds that exists. Looking at “Protophobia”, that specific sample is from the “Disasters of Self” box-set, which included a randomly composed tape loop, so each tape was unique, limited to 45 total tapes, I believe. To me, that was like getting an instrument alongside a brilliant archive of work. Other samples I’ve used include audio from tapes I’ve found on the street, poetry readings from old college share drives, field recordings, anthropological fieldwork archival tapes, old dollar bin records….to think that some of this stuff may never be heard again is what makes me want to put it into my work. It’s an animist sentiment; recordings retain something that is unique to them, and I want to honor that. 

On Bandcamp, you

2019 self-released tape "Blasted Reception", comes with the note "Received and processed on stolen land on stolen time, April 8, 2019."

What does that statement mean to you, and why did you feel it was a necessary addition to this release?

Ryan - “Received and processed…”– I truly believe every performance and recording that I have done is a collaboration between myself and things external to me. The sound never starts with me, I just tune in, thus, received. That said, someone has to fire up Audacity and wire up the daisy chain, so I consider that my processing work.

“…on stolen land, on stolen time…” – Between living in New Mexico and Washington for most of my adult life, the reality of the mass dispossession of land from the people native to these places is something I find myself reckoning with.

Stolen time refers to the simple fact I was recording this at home, while I was working from home, and thus committing the sin of “time theft”. 

In total, the statement speaks to the psychic conditions and contradictions the work was created under. Consider it an entry in a magical journal. 

It is very apparent that your interest in occultism finds its way into your art, merch, and especially into your online bookstore "Alarum Books".

Where did this interest come from, and was its presence in your art intentional from the start?

Ryan - My interest in the occult began as early as I can remember. I was raised Catholic in a gloomy northern New Jersey suburb immersed in a world of saints, martyrs, “hell holes” and industrial ruins, demons, local cryptids, secret societies, UFOs…all the good stuff.  My mom has Catholic hippy inclinations, so she’d always be burning incense while I was in front of the TV watching Joseph Campbell talk about “The Power of Myth” on PBS. She probably played that Enigma CD 30% of my conscious waking life. My dad was a jacked guido who really encouraged me to get into Magic: The Gathering, Vampire: The Masquerade, H.P. Lovecraft, Dark Shadows and metal. Thus, the occult made me the man I am today. As for its presence in my art, given my process, I would say yes – the art itself is the residue of occult forces. 

Branching off of that, as a rightfully self-proclaimed "Esoteric Hustler", what are your go to pieces of literature or media that you would suggest to people who are new into the world of Occultism/Esotericism?

Ryan - It’s going to come down to your intent. That is, do you want to have contact experiences with entities outside of yourself? Impact the probability of certain things happening in the world? Harm or help people from afar? Or is it more of an aesthetic, or academic interest? Here’s four recommendations; two fictional, two non-fictional:

Aleister Crowley – Magick Book 4: Liber ABA

If you’re interested in the nuts and bolts of magickal practice, you should start here. It’s Crowley at his most eloquent, particularly the sections on meditation and the messianic impulse to withdraw from reality. If you read this, you’ll have all the fundamentals in place to go down whatever path you may wish. Be forewarned - this is a life-changing book if you’re receptive to it. 

Frances Yates – The Art of Memory

The manner in which Yates gets the reader to envision the world through the eyes of a practitioner of the art of memory is an act of pure magic, it primes you to rethink how the world can be contemplated, which I think is key for the imaginal aspects of occult practice. 

Alan Moore – Jerusalem

Alan Moore could rightly be considered the greatest magician of our time, and Jerusalem is a shockingly well-done synthesis and summary of the last several hundred years of magical workings. As good a primer as Book 4. 

Marguerite Yourcenar – The Abyss

A lucid and beautiful story of a wandering gnostic alchemist in the Renaissance that captures why anyone would set out on the path of exploring the fringes of reality. Truly a moving book, one of my favorite novels of all time. 

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions! Where can people find you online? Are there any new works or projects you want to promote?

Ryan - Thank you for the thoughtful questions! 

My Instagram is @Alarum_Books 

My bookstore is online at alarumbooks.com 

Most recently, I released my second full length album, “Deep and Desperate Fictions” on Virtues. I am very proud of how it came out. You can pick that up here: https://www.virtueslabel.com/

In the pipeline, a collaboration between myself and Cherif el-Masri (Tarkamt) will soon see the light of day – gnostic heavy electronics under the name “Barqan”.

In the first part of 2026, there will be a new full-length CD for Tribe Tapes and a collaborative work for Reanimated Miscarriage. More live shows and other developments are being planned. Stay tuned. 

Interview by Kim Garcia-Sanchez of 'The Musick Obscura'.